Gila Cliff Dwellings

Today's interesting adventure was in New Mexico, north of Silver City, where we arrived after a four hour drive from Van Horn. After depositing our gear in our hotel, we negotiated our way up the narrow, twisting Highway 15, which is the road that leads to the Gila Cliff Dwelling monument. If you were behind anyone at all slow, it takes from 1 1/2 to 2 hours to get there. With our Ford
Focus rental car helping out by being good on corners, we managed to make it in a little over an hour. The foot path up to the caves takes about an hour--not long, and that includes time to stop and explore through the caves a bit. These cave dwelling were constructed around 1280, dated from some of the wood poles holding up roofs that have disappeared, but the poles managed to survive. A couple of the caves are very large, and probably held dwellings for several families. I have included three pictures that show the caves from outside with some of the exterior walls, some of the interior, and one of a ladder showing how the cave dwellers accessed their homes.
Fascinating, and well worth the twisty drive up.